#MadewithaBailey Interview with Lora Shelley

Your work caught our eye because it is so charming and whimsical. Were you originally an illustrator who progressed to clay? (I particularly loved your year of Charlie drawings!)

 —Thank You. I have my BFA from RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) in Illustration. After graduation, I started showing my work in cafes and galleries. I have had the honor of having my paintings collected by people around the world, including an American Ambassador from Lilongwe, Malawi (Africa), musicians, and actors. Both The Valley Table and the Chronogram, regional publications, have used several of my Diner Waitress paintings for their covers.

In 2017 I set out to paint my cat Charley every day as a studio exercise that took over my life (in a good way.) I found it instructive to my creative process to be that focused. My skills improved and the process was meditative, a way to calm and focus my mind. And, of course, to bond with Charley, my adorable studio assistant. In the Spring of 2018, the Wired Gallery in High Falls hosted the entire collection covering their walls in Charley paintings. It was a show close to my heart.

Tell us about yourself, how did you get started working in clay? 

I consider myself a painter/printmaker who likes to learn new mediums. My friend Zoya Geacintov invited me into her studio to play with her. She is an amazing local potter based in High Falls. She has a whimsical style and encouraged me to play. We collaborated on several projects and that is where my bears started.

Soon I found my two-dimensional creatures coming out into the clay and I loved it. I was immediately hooked. I started with pinch pots (which I still love to make) and pendants featuring cats and bears, Lots of bears!! Haha. 

What are some of your favorite things about working in clay? 

Bringing something to life from literal mud amazes me. The kiln science feels like magic to me, probably because I am not formally trained in the chemistry. But I am learning from my professional potter friends. 

I love that I can make a functional piece that I can use every day. I use my jewelry holder bears every day and my favorite pinch pot for hot sauce and teabags. Also mugs! They are so intimate. 

I have inherited these lovely handmade wooden shadow boxes that my grandpa made and they are perfect for housing my growing collection of handmade mugs.

What inspires you?

Definitely all of the amazing potter friends I have in my life now. I have been volunteering at the Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale for the past two or three years, helping them decorate chili bowls for their Chilibowl Festival every February. This annual fundraiser helps support their programs to bring artists for residencies and internships from around the world to Rosendale. 

They frequently have slide nights and art shows to present new residents to the community. I encourage everyone locally to take advantage of these opportunities offered year-round there.

Which Bailey products do you use and how do they help you get the results you need? 

I discovered Tucker’s tan speckled clay CCSS at Bailey's. That is my go-to bear color! I leave it natural for the perfect bear fur. I refer to it as the bear clay.

I like the juxtaposition of the raw clay next to a glazed surface, gloss versus matte or low sheen. This is an alluring quality of clay-work for me. It’s something that painting can not do in the same way.

Recently, someone introduced me to the “black” clay (Standard Dark Brown 266) which makes for lovely black bears. I either wax the bears then dip glaze or paint around with some of the ready-made glazes I found at Bailey's. I use Tucker’s Smooth White for my pinch pots.

My recent favorite glazes are Potter’s Choice Saturation Metallic (PC-1), Mayco Black Matte (SW - 140), and Coyote’s Gun Metal green (MGB026).

What’s a tool that you could not live without?

 I am going to include a photo of my favorite tools because I don’t know the names of some of them. Even though I use them all the time. Notice that they are dirty in the photo. I have this little wooden tool — it has a u-shape at one end, that is a go-to tool. Also, my rubber-tipped “brushes” are my favorite for smoothing and burnishing my bears and handmade mugs.

My Sherrill red rubber rib I find very useful. Also, the Mudtools cleanup sponge is great for handbuilt edge and surface clean up. I recently bought a Shimpo banding wheel from Bailey, which I like to use when I am refining and adding handles to my hand-built mugs

My absolute "can’t live without" tool is a fine brush and my black Amaco semi-moist underglaze pan for detail in my paintings on clay. The dark green and blue-green are great colors too. I love them because they act a lot like watercolors so they are very familiar with the techniques I already use. I run out of the black the most. 

What do you love about the ceramic process? 

My favorite is the leather hard stage! So many possibilities. It’s that sweet spot when the clay isn’t too wet but still has elasticity and can be carved, smoothed and painted on.

Also, I love collaborations.

I love to paint on bowls thrown by my “less wheel challenged” peers, like Rachel Dubicki or Cheyenne Mallo. I will call them my Wheel-masters. We have even done some 3-way collaborations for the Chilibowl fundraiser —WSW Studio Manager, Ruth McKinney Burket makes her signature mugs, then I transfer one of my silkscreen drawings onto it when it is leather hard, then Fiber Artist, Erin Von Holdt paints her signature colorful stitches around my creatures. I learned the ceramic transfer with the silkscreen process through Ruth — at a class at WSW.

I love how the technique of painting underglazes on bisque ware is very similar to watercolor. I like to use Bailey’s Amaco underglaze pans for fine details. Bisqueware uniquely absorbs underglaze. I can layer thin coats and achieve very interesting effects. Also, I can wipe away excess with a damp sponge. In the painting world, they have formulated a ‘clayboard’ surface. It is buttery smooth but it does not have the same thirstiness as real bisqueware.

I find the frustrating part with ceramics is also the exhilarating part. All could be lost in the kiln if a glaze doesn’t work out, or if something was too wet or too dry. It doesn’t happen often but it is also the addicting part — that moment of opening the kiln is like Christmas morning! Did all my hard work pay off? Did something exciting happen that I wasn’t expecting?

We are so lucky to live in the Hudson Valley where there are so many art resources. There are many studios to take ceramic classes and opportunities to rent kiln space. I have taken many classes at the Women’s studio workshop, where they offer studio access for the duration of the class which is so helpful. 

What are you excited to try next in the studio?

So many things! I have a list that I am constantly adding to. I would like to make teeny cat ornaments (wish I had thought of that one this Summer, haha). 

I have started to play with my creatures with little trays as business cardholders. Also more tiny vase designs. I already make little bear head bud vases, but I would like to explore the creatures next to a hand-built shape.

Cheyenne Mallo and I have been exploring a collaboration featuring my bears on her fabulous typographical mugs and trays. They are a perfect combo! Bears and hiking in the Catskills. Maybe you wouldn't want to run into a bear on a real hike but on mug it is charming. So I look forward to that collaboration growing.

When you’re not creating ceramics, what do you enjoy doing?

If I am not busy petting my cat, Charley, I love making custom pet portraits for animal-loving art collectors. I paint in oils, acrylics, and watercolors. Also, mixed media as I did with my "Year of Charleys". I used cereal box panels as my canvas for each painting. I liked how the natural cardboard color created a middle “grey” so I could push and pull the images out with lights and darks. 

When I am not making ceramic works, I am painting or making etchings and linocuts. I like to think that there is a natural flow from one medium to the next. Themes flow and one media informs the other. 

But since I consider myself a painter foremost I feel freedom when I am working with clay, the freedom to make mistakes and try new things. I consider clay work to be my playtime —even though clay work is a LOT of work. So much more work than one would imagine before getting involved — which raises my admiration for other ceramic artists greatly.  

The clay community is so lovely and welcoming. I have found my clay friends to be so generous with their knowledge and techniques. They welcomed me, a clay novice, ten years ago and have nurtured my love and admiration for this art form ever since.

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